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| Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong, right, shakes hands with Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Wendy Sherman ahead of their meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
International community likely to respond to Pyongyang's provocation
By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea and the United States warned, Tuesday, that a quick and strong response was awaiting any possible nuclear test by North Korea, stressing the allies' full preparation to effectively deal with Pyongyang's destabilizing and provocative activities.
The strong statement came after Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong held a meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Wendy Sherman, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul amid high expectations that the Kim Jong-un regime is anticipated to conduct a seventh nuclear test soon.
The vice-ministerial meeting also took place on the heels of a series of South Korea-U.S. talks featuring North Korea's nuclear program. President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden held a summit, May 21, to discuss ways to handle North Korea's nuclear and missile challenges, followed by a trilateral meeting by nuclear envoys from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, last week. Later this week, the defense ministers of the two countries are scheduled to meet in Singapore on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, in which the North Korean nuclear issue is likely to top the agenda.
"There would be a swift and forceful response to such a test because the International Atomic Energy Agency itself has said there is concern that they may conduct a nuclear test. This would be very destabilizing to world security," Sherman told reporters following her meeting with Cho.
"I believe that not only the ROK and the United States and Japan, but the entire world, will respond in a strong and clear manner. We are prepared," she continued.
The ROK refers to the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.
Cho said, "If North Korea conducts a nuclear test, we will have no choice but to consider additional sanctions against North Korea in cooperation with the United States and the international community."
He also said, "I make it clear that additional measures between South Korea and the U.S. will be considered in terms of the allies' defense posture."
Sherman said that a counter reaction to a North Korean nuclear test would be beyond that of the relevant countries in the region.
"I think that all countries would be quite concerned by a nuclear test. And I think the world will respond, as we should, because this is a concern not only to the Korean Peninsula, but a concern to the world," she said.
"What I want to assure the people of the Republic of Korea of is that we are all completely aligned to respond to provide the reassurance necessary, and to ensure that the North understands that we are united in the need for the full denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
However, Sherman did not fail to extend an olive branch to North Korea, saying that the U.S. is ready to hold a meeting with the reclusive regime without preconditions.
"At the same time, we are open to negotiations without preconditions to try to ensure peace stability and prosperity for all nations of the world," she added.
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